What We Do

Board of directors

The Assured Food Standards Board are a team of experts and academics covering the breadth of the food industry.

The Board govern the running of the company and development of Red Tractor’s standards, ensuring they are well-informed and evolve with the latest industry needs and developments.

Jim Moseley

Chief Executive, AFS

Jim has spent his whole career in the Food & Drink Industry. Starting with FMC Meat Ltd - at the time Europe's largest Meat Group, then joining Ovaltine manufacturer Wander Foods, where he was responsible for the UK launch of the sports drink Isostar.

Recruited by Tulip as the Sales & Marketing Director, Jim spent 12 years with the group before moving to General Mills UK in 1999 as the Managing Director. At General Mills he was responsible for a broad portfolio of high profile brands including Häagen-Dazs, Old El Paso, Green Giant and Nature Valley in the UK, Ireland and the Nordic markets.

After serving as the interim Director General of the Food & Drink Federation, Jim joined Mizkan Euro Ltd in September 2015.

In addition Jim has served as the Chairman of The Provision Trade Federation, the President of the Food & Drink Federation and has been a Board member of FoodDrinkEurope.

Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe

Chairman, AFS

Baroness Neville-Rolfe was brought up on a mixed farm in Wiltshire and was a government Minister, most recently at the Treasury, from 2014 until June this year.More than 15 years of her career has been spent at Tesco where she was on the main board from 2006 to 2013.Before Tesco, Baroness Neville-Rolfe was a civil servant serving in 10 Downing Street and in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food where, among other things, she was the lead official on the 1990 Food Safety Act. Prior to becoming a minister in 2014 she also had a number of non-executive directorships including ITV, PWC, 2 Sisters Food Group and large German wholesaler, Metro. She was also President of EuroCommerce – the European retailer and wholesaler organisation – from 2012 to 14.

Andrew Blenkiron

Vice Chairman, AFS

Andrew joined the AFS board in March 2014. Previously, Andrew was a board member and technical advisor committee chairman of the AFS Beef and Lamb Sector board.

Andrew is currently Estate Director of Euston Estate. The impressive 11,000 acre estate in Suffolk is home to a substantial and varied in-hand farming operation that extends to around 6,500 acres.

David Clarke CBE

Independent Director

David was appointed an Independent Director in July 2017 when he retired as Red Tractor’s Chief Executive. Having trained as a microbiologist he began his career in a food testing laboratory and spent over 20 years working for the UK’s largest hotel and catering company, where he was responsible for food supply specification and quality assurance. During his tenure as CEO at Red Tractor grew from nothing to the UK’s leading assurance scheme. David was honoured with a CBE in the Queen’s 2018 New Year Honours for services to the British food and farming industry.

Angela Rhodes

Sector Director

Angela studied agriculture at Seale Hayne followed by a career as an agricultural journalist and then working in the cattle breeding industry. She is also a Nuffield Scholar and for the last 11 years has been farming jointly with her husband in South Warwickshire where they have a 330 cow autumn calving dairy herd on a 420 acre predominantly grass farm.

Laurence Matthews

Sector Director

Laurence was appointed Chairman of the Red Tractor Crops & Sugar Beet Board in 2014, after being a member of the board for the six previous years.

Laurence farms 3200 acres in Surrey on the family farm. The farm grows a range of combinable crops, including wheat, barley, oilseed rape as well as maize and root crops. He also runs a beef fattening unit as well as a Suckler herd of Belted Galoways.

Alistair Mackintosh

Sector Director

Alistair Mackintosh runs a flock of 1,500 breeding ewes and a herd of 100 beef sucklers in Ravenglass, Cumbria, across 650 rented acres.

“Red Tractor is something that’s absolutely essential to my business and I think it’s a great assurance scheme that gives consumers confidence to buy British, and that’s going to be increasingly important for UK farming,” he said.

“Some of the priorities are reestablishing the core values of what the tractor stands for. Farmers, stakeholders and trade associations have to work together on this to ensure farmers don’t view farm assurance as a regulatory burden and see what it does for their businesses.”

Dr Louise Sutherland

Sector Director

Louise was appointed Independent Chair for Fresh Produce in December 2012 and represents the interests of the Fresh Produce Industry on the AFS Board.

After successfully completing a PhD in plant pathology from the University of Reading she spent some time in research before moving to retail as produce technologist and later a buyer.

Michael Sheldon

Sector Director

Mike was appointed to the AFS board and as Sector Chairman for pigs in November 2012, and shortly after that he was appointed chairman of AFS’ Communications and Marketing Committee.

Mike graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford with a degree in Classic and Modern Languages. From 1982 to 1995, Mike worked for pig genetics company, PIC, taking on various roles from Production Manager for the UK to Marketing Manager for Europe, before leaving to set up his own pig farming company.

Minette Batters

Industry Director

Minette grew up living and working on-farm, with no succession tenancy available. It wasn’t until 1998 that she was able to secure a long-term Farm Business Tenancy. She built the business from nothing to over 300 head of stock, finishing Angus cattle on a premium scheme for a major retailer.

More recently Minette has worked to promote British food with ‘Ladies in Beef’ and the ‘Great British Beef Week’. She has been an NFU member from grassroots to County Chairman and in February 2014 she was elected Deputy President.

Claire Nicholson

Independent Director

Claire joined the Board in March 2014 as an independent director to represent consumer interests.

Claire is a consumer interests member of the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes and has recently been working across range of advisory roles, linked to consumer matters, including, a member of The Food Standards Agency's Consumer Advisory Panel and a member representing consumer interests on the Current and Future Meat Controls Stakeholder Group.

Melissa Donald

Independent Director

Melissa qualified from Glasgow Vet School in 1987 and has experience in mixed practice in North Ayrshire. She was a partner in a hill farming enterprise, running 1200 ewes and 100 suckler cows but now concentrates on her Kerry Hill sheep.Currently Melissa is on the council of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and is the Scottish Branch President of the British Veterinary Association

Melissa joined the AFS Board in March 2017 as an independent director to represent animal health and welfare.

Chris Goodwin

Independent Director

Chris joined the AFS Board in December 2016 and is a Chartered Certified Accountant.He has held senior roles as a CFO and CEO in a number of industry sectors, most recently as CFO of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, and prior to that, CEO of the NFU's commercial subsidiary. He now works as a non executive director and business adviser for a variety of organisations in both the public and private sectors.